EF2 Tornado — Chambers, Alabama

2023-01-12 · near Chapel Hill, Chambers, Alabama

Event narrative

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Chambers County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 130 mph. The tornado touched down on County Road 114, about six-tenths of a mile west of Highway 431. The tornado tracked northeast and intensified once it passed through the Five Points community, snapping and uprooting many trees along County Road 267 and causing roof damage to a barn. The swath of timber damage became almost a mile wide along County Roads 281 and 282 and at least one residence suffered roof damage. The tornado continued to intensify as it crossed County Road 268 where large swaths of pine trees were snapped. A manufactured home was completely destroyed and blown downstream near County Road 278. Most of the structural damage happened along County Road 284. A couple residences suffered significant shingle damage, one had siding damage, and a manufactured home had its porch ripped off, impacting its walls. Another manufactured building was blown off its footings. Another significant swath of snapped pines was observed on County Road 283, some snapped off only a couple feet off the ground. The tornado then crossed into Georgia about eight-tenths of a mile southeast of the intersection of County Road 439 and County Road 283.

Wider weather episode

Numerous strong to severe thunderstorms impacted Central Alabama during the morning and afternoon hours of Thursday, January 12th, 2023. Several supercell thunderstorms spawned multiple tornadoes which caused significant damage in many areas. The severe thunderstorms also produced damaging straight-line winds and hail up to golf ball size.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.9870, -85.4130)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1077083. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.